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Join Stevens for the Annual Alumni Beach Party on Saturday, July 31. Held in three great locations at the Jersey Shore, the beach parties bring together alumni, current students, faculty, staff and other members of the Stevens community for some fun in the sun.

The young alumni organization at Stevens, G.O.L.D. (Graduates of the Last Decade), have been hosting events down the Jersey Shore for quite a few years; five years ago the location moved to Jenkinson’s Inlet Restaurant in Pt. Pleasant. The move was made not only to make the event a true beach event, but also to enable alumni with young families to have an opportunity to participate in an alumni event as a family.

As the success of the event has grown over the years, and the invitations for the event have extended beyond just the last decade of alumni, it was decided to add two additional events. Last year was the first year Stevens hosted “…it’s a shore thing” and the popularity of the events encouraged the Advancement office would once again host these events in the future, now held in Pt. Pleasant, Beach Haven and Cape May.

The events provide an opportunity for the community to gather together in a fun atmosphere, and to meet alumni who live and/or vacation in the various regions of the Jersey Shore. The Advancement Staff provides an update on news from campus and engages the alumni to reconnect with their alma mater. These events are the perfect venue to interact with alumni who don’t make it back to campus very often.

Edward (Eddie) Johnson, Class of 1984

“How do you think? Can you think on your feet? No matter what your answer is, can you defend it?”

These are questions that Edward (Eddie) Johnson (BE ’84) posed to a class of undergraduates when he guest lectured a Capital Markets class this past spring. Working closely with Howe School of Technology Management professor Jan Klein, Johnson utilized real-life case studies to introduce students to working for a private equity shop. His goal was to simulate the entire process for the class, allowing them first-hand analytical experience and the opportunity to show their thought process behind their decisions.

Johnson is definitely an expert when it comes to thinking on his feet. A chemical engineering major at Stevens, he began his career at Chevron. After several years there, Johnson decided to investigate alternate career paths, and became an MBA candidate at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated as a Palmer Scholar, one of the top five in his class, with a focus on finance and strategic planning.

From there, Johnson went into consulting, and moved quickly into private equity. He joined Credit Suisse in 1998, where he currently serves as managing partner of the DLJ Merchant Banking division in the New York City office. “It’s been a constant adventure since 1994,” said Johnson. “I’ve had the best jobs in private equity in the world.”

Eager to share that experience with students at his alma mater, Johnson was initially reconnected with Stevens through outreach by the Office of Advancement. He hadn’t been back to campus since 1995, when he played in an alumni basketball game, and 15 years later was excited to see all the changes that have occurred. While on campus, he spoke with students, and came up with the idea to provide this special insight into private equity and also guide students with career advice.

Partnered with Professor Klein, Johnson conducted his case study in several phases. First, he provided the students with a real-life, interesting case for them to read and analyze. The Capital Markets class was broken up into five groups of approximately five students each and a conference call was conducted to simulate a meeting with the management team of a small company. The students could ask questions and talk to the “banker” before ultimately deciding whether or not to buy the business.

“I wanted to make this fun and interactive,” Johnson explained. “My goal was to clearly illustrate what it’s like to work in a private equity shop.”

Several days after the conference call, the class met to discuss their decisions – and most importantly, how they came to those decisions. Johnson led the group discussion and began by telling students: “There is no right or wrong answer here; this business is built on judgment calls. You have to be prepared though, you can’t just wing this. You need to be able to defend your thinking, vision and of course, your final decision.”

A lively discussion ensued, with all students engaged in the case study. Johnson provided guidance throughout and often probed deeper to encourage the students to articulate their thought process. At the conclusion of the class, the students left with three distinct impressions that Johnson had set forth: a taste of life in a private equity shop; the ability to consider many factors when making the decision to invest; and an idea of whether or not private equity is the right career path.

Johnson would like to continue this partnership with Stevens, preparing students and providing additional first-hand experience through case studies, guest lectures and career guidance. “A Stevens education is so disciplined. It teaches you to think which is a very powerful tool no matter which career path you choose,” concluded Johnson. “Even though my undergrad degree is so far from what I do today, my Stevens education was invaluable for providing that essential tool.”

So what happened on May 6 at 2:45? It is a unique experience–a case of high frequency trading machines (agents) algorithmically self-organizing their selling activities. Those agents that give liquidity are also the agents that can take it away. What the regulators did not anticipate is that a source that collectively provides instantaneous liquidity can deprive the market from that liquidity, not by explicit conspiracy, but by self-organized adaptation of similar strategies to capitalize on observed market signals.(more…)

Aside from its unusual length, there is nothing immediately remarkable about the Davidson Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology. But in the basement of the building that sits next to the third-base line of the college’s baseball field, a 300-foot long wave tank — built in 1944 – has been a place of remarkable science and discovery that has influenced the fields of ocean engineering and maritime security.

The history of the Davidson Laboratory, which turns 75 this year, is steeped in the intellectual pursuits that shaped a generation of scientists and made the country into a naval superpower.

Stevens Institute of Technology held its third annual Research and Entrepreneurship Day on April 30 in Canavan Arena. This event is designed to bring greater exposure to Stevens research programs, capabilities and achievements, and foster relationships with industry to offer insight and solutions to their business needs.

Those in attendance included alumni, industry representatives, federal and state funding agencies, faculty, post-docs, students and academic colleagues from other institutions who are involved in research programs at Stevens.

This year’s R&E Day was also simulcast, offering a chance for people who were unable to attend to view the conference via the web.

In what is becoming one of the most anticipated events of Stevens’ Research and Entrepreneurship Day, students pitched business ideas for new technologies to a panel of five experts.

With only two minutes to pitch their ideas, the teams got a taste of what’s referred to in the venture world as elevator pitches. The concept refers to the short amount of face time an entrepreneur might have if he or she could corner a venture capitalist in an elevator.

On April 28, 2010, Stevens’ annual Senior Design Expo showcased an array of more than 80 innovative projects across all disciplines.

As part of their degree fulfillment, teams of graduating seniors demonstrate projects they have jointly engineered, often involving complex mechanical and electronic devices, as well as virtual prototypes.

Dr. Michael S. Bruno, Dean of Stevens’ Schaefer School of Engineering and Science, was a guest on Minnesota Public Radio’s midmorning program on May 3. In light of the recent Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, Bruno discussed the technology behind oil cleanup and whether it will make a dent in this environmental disaster.